midwest - transplant: May 2005

Michigan

Here are some more photos from the weekend, including The Man tending his manly grill full of meat worthy of a healthy man.

michigan

This was our happy Sunday dinner, just before it hit the grill and just before the rain hit us.

This one's for sweet p

On our long walk around town, we stopped by Vintage to Vogue, where there were all these super-cute handbags (so cute that even Ben thought I needed one). Too bad they're so expensive. I guess I'll have to settle for the pretty pics on the site.

I've been a little preoccupied by trying to set up a podcast, and I've been a little under the gun at work, so I haven't had much time to post. But Ben and I walked all around town today while I reacquainted myself with my camera (which came back from the repair center this week). So enjoy the photos.

This one's for Bob,

who reminded me last night how much stuff there is at Coudal. I just borrowed a DVD of Björk videos from the library, and it was in a Jewelboxing case. The next time I burn CDs to give out as my portfolio, I'm definitely going to use those sweet things (or maybe I'll make nice custom mixes, like this, in them). And that weird part of me that loves collections for their own sake adores the Museum of Online Museums, which I've been visiting since my mafia room days. I read an article a couple of years ago that argued the web is no longer an exciting place to surf. Cheers to Coudal for making it fun again.

Happy (belated) birthday, Ben!

You know you're an adult when...

(Okay, I'm sure this is the subject some awful email forward somewhere. And if it isn't, it should be. But...)

When the best part of your day is when you finally sit down for cocktails, smoked oysters, and Stoned Wheat Thins. Dad, I take back all those things I used to say about your sardines and anchovies, too!

Ben's best scrabble play ever: 'stymie.'

East & West, North & South

There is too much going on at home on Saturday nights around here. Besides all the good stuff on the CBC, there are tons of goodies on AZN TV. Fortunately, most programs on AZN Television are subtitled, so I can have it all: listen to the CBC while reading the dialogue (On now: James Murphy on CBC and "Bharat Ek Khoj" on AZN). Last weekend, we watched "Dragons of the Orient," a cheezy exhibition flick about various kung-fu styles. Tonight, on deck is "The True Game of Death," where Bruce Lee actually died during filming, and they finished the film with a look-alike. I think we're gonna watch based solely on the winning Amazon.com reviews.

New Music, er, Saturday.

So, for all of you who don't have nice weather, CBC Radio 3 has a great Saturday-night lineup scheduled. But for those who can't pick up radio signals from the CBC on Saturday night (or who have more of a social life than I do) should check out the New Music Canada site as a consolation prize.

I'm stuck in traffic

So i thought i'd share the view.

Finally spring !

I'm working in the shop with the bay doors open, it's so nice!

Counta culcha

So, this is the part of the program where we talk about arts and culture, and I use up my one good bar story. Our subject today: the Yes Men, who are a group of "artists" that engage in culture jamming. There was a documentary filmed about them a couple of years back. Anyway, I was having fond memories of a certain class I took from one of their affiliates a while ago, and so I signed up for their newsletter, to keep it real (or something...). I'm not sure that I exactly approve of all their methods and pranks (aside from my ethical objections, there's something about this postmodern stuff I can't quite embrace. Maybe I'm just not angry enough), but I've gotta say: when this landed in my inbox, my jaw dropped, and I had to share:

Two weeks ago at a London banking conference to which they had accidentally been invited, two "Dow representatives" described a new Dow computer program that puts a precise financial value on human life.

The 70 bankers in attendance enthusiastically applauded the lecture, which described various industrial crimes, including IBM's sale of technology to the Nazis for use in identifying Jews, as "golden skeletons in the closet"--i.e. lucrative and therefore acceptable.

Several of the bankers then posed for photos with "Dow Acceptable Risk" mascot "the Golden Skeleton," and signed up for licenses for the "Acceptable Risk Calculator," which helps businesses determine the exact point where human casualties will start to cut into profit, and suggests the best regions on earth to locate ventures with potentially very high death tolls.

See http://theyesmen.org/hijinks/dow/acceptablerisk.shtml for video and photos of the event, and http://dowethics.com/risk/ to try out the "Acceptable Risk Calculator" for yourself.

The best meal in recent memory

Filet minon: Simple & amazing.

This was the first live blog I made, which is fun in itself. Last night Jarrod took us out to dinner (to a place where drinking the last few drops of wine is declassé and if you want dessert, the waitress will make reservations for you at the restaurant next door). As Ben says, high-quality, rare beef is the equivalent of western sushi, and this was. It melted in the mouth. Oh, and the bottle of '97 cabernet was the perfect companion.

From the road the other night.

Speedwell

Sorry...

I'm having issues with moblogging. The photo that accompanied the "New features" post from a few days ago disappeared. Everything I've posted from my phone since doesn't want to show up. I still haven't figured out why. I'll repost as soon as I figure out what's going on.

3:30pm: Well, I guess things are back up and running. Yippee! Enjoy the photos. m-t

Did I mention I spend a lot of time on the road?

There is the typical construction around on the highways, complete with impressive cranes.

crane

Weekend update

Sorry for the very few posts recently. Things have been quiet. But here's what the weekend amounted to: Chris came to visit, so we stopped by all our favorite spots around town. We even attended Saturday Morning Physics ("An opportunity to hear physicists discuss their work in non-technical terms," where we learned about LIGO and Einstein@Home) and the UM Gallery for some education. At the Farmers' Market, there was a couple making kettle corn:

corn2

And I finally won my first game of Scrabble against the masters. Maybe I'm cut out to be a Burrington after all.

i_won

New features.

I'm trying out the new "moblog" feature offered by blogger, which means I'll be able to post away from my computer, via my mobile phone. Hot stuff, eh? I knew there was a good reason I just had to have a camera phone! This will be especially useful as my real camera broke this weekend. So if there are some weirdly formatted or truncated posts, that probably means I screwed up with the buttons on my cellphone keypad. Be patient while I work out the bugs. In the meantime, the photo below is a pic of the speedwell growing all over the park across the street from my apartment. So enjoy all the dreamy, low-res pics my phone loves to take!

Another crush.

In case anyone is looking for birthday presents for me, here's one - 24/7 of my 2nd bf (after TinTin). Too bad my birthday's six months away...

stevie

Crossover.

What's up with the A-list architects crossing over into retail furniture design this year? Not that I can blame them, exactly - after doing a building a piece of furniture seems like a breeze. I'm sure there are others, but three's a charm:

Zaha Hadid - "Aqua Table"

es6

Winka Dubbeldam - "Inflection TW751" for Ivalo

Ben van Berkel - "Circle" sofa for Knoll

CircleThree

No boys allowed.

Because I want to be like Alisa when I grow up (well, maybe I only want her clothes), I thought this new Adidas line by Stella McCarney was awesome. But, then I think I'd have to start learning Flash and Maya and use words like "axiomatic infrastructure" and "computational ecology." Maybe next year...

Here are some random, mildly amusing links to get you through the Wednesday blahs.

Winning words from the slang contest at Mirriam Webster.
My favorite? "ESPNage."

The awful truth about the price of celeb photos from the NYTimes (reg. req.).

A statistically improbable run of lotto winners, and where they got their (identical) winning numbers. (reg. req.).

Goodbye Interstate, hello Clearview.

An old flame.

If Ben's first gf was Ms. Kirkey, then my first bf was TinTin. It was love at first sight, when we met briefly in Brussels. Just ask my parents: he was the only guy whose picture I hung up on my wall - ever. We just had the opportunity to renew our relationship via the great dating services available in the children's section of the AADL.

Somethings for sweet p

A view from my rear-view mirror last week.

trucker

And a view out my windshield.

for_sweetp

Old (geeky) news.

I heard about Honda's shipping policies on the GLRC feed of NPR this morning. It's old news, but it's cool news.

Ben decided he'd like to teach me tennis, and I decided I wanted to learn. I'd never picked up a racket before yesterday, so yesterday afternoon we hit the ball around in the raquet ball rooms. But today we went to a court and hit the ball around. The trees were all in blossom; the air was so sweet, it was hard to keep my mind on the ball.

The view from the court:
persp_tennis

For Mother's Day,

I found myself thinking of my grandmother. Wonder why...

theresonlyone

If I had money...

Another post about instigating change. Thanks to sweet p (who should run for office someday, as she's the most politically knowledgable person I know who isn't retired and doesn't get paid to do it) for bringing this up with my morning e-coffee last week. I finally got around to listening to the show on The Connection yesterday. (by the way, The Connection is a great program. For those of you who aren't familiar with it and who have connections faster than dial-up, browse through the archives and I'm sure you'll get buried in all the good stuff there.) What a great way to (apparently) activate large-scale corporate change. Reading the prospectus of Domini Funds is pretty interesting, too (and it helps you get beyond the touchy-feely graphics of the site). Yes, Mom, I think I'm turning crunchy (xoxo!).

Big props.

to my cousin Leslie. She just sent me a letter that reminded me how awesome she is. Holla out to Oakland!

Something for Saturday afternoon.

Just in case you're bored.

Spreading more love.

So, on my way back from work each day I've noticed this billboard that looks pretty cool (but, it's far away and i can only barely make out the word "O'Neify"). I finally google it to find this. Now, I'm not exactly in favor of artists selling out, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to find out what he's been up to. And that leads me here, where there are tons of videos from Sophia Coppola and Shynola and Mike Mills. Which is a good thing. So for all you video junkies out there, go here to rot your brains out watching the music video archives, like I did!

tdb_2

I heart industry.

Well, only sometimes. I took the used office paper to the recycling station yesterday. There was an amazing amount of material there. It's incredible how much waste we make, and how little of it actually gets recycled. But, maybe it was just a down day at the recycling center. I did my part by rescuing a discarded copy of "Babar and Father Christmas."

cardboard

I'm a girl.

I haven't let myself post anything really girly yet, so here goes: I bought some cards from Egg Press yesterday, and was reminded how yummy they are. You just can't beat letterpress on the sexyness scale. Also, I bought some stationery from these people, and fell in love with their wrapping paper. It's all really amazing. I think Target needs to take a hint from these guys. Oh, yeah - I also heart Elum and Hello Lucky and Sugar Paper. And did I mention Morning Craft?

seismic2

Another confession: I'm still a girl.

Thought I'd add one more to the "I heart..." list, and that's Denyse Schmidt. Her quilts are awesome, and her stationery is nice too. Betcha couldn't guess she went to RISD for graphic design.

But now it's time to share a deep, dark secret. I first heard about Schmidt's stuff through one of the first issues of Martha Stewart Living I received, waaaaaay back in 9th grade. I think the magazine was in its second year. It was then I realized I would forever be a hopeless craft junkie.

runandfall_choc

Spring Snow

A late-season snowstorm blew in a few weekends ago, and I took some photos to document the freeze.

snow_tulips

Congratulations to the winners of the World Press Photo Contest. 2004 was a busy year, and it produced some incredible photographs.

For all those Americans in the UK attending Cinco de Mayo-General Election parties tomorrow: "Not 'buying your round' is more than just a breach of pub etiquette: it is heresy."

I spend too much time in the car.

Driving into and out of Detroit every day gives me the opportunity to see just about everything that can be put on the back of a truck (once, I saw an entire segment of a high-speed commuter train on a truck bed). Most common is the shipping container, and I can't help but admire some shipping logos. I guess this is going to turn into an I-love-trucks-and-trains post - I can't get enough of these action photos from the Maersk and OOCL photo galleries.

about_gallery_7-star_gallery

The tag for the following photo, from OOCL's site, reads: "Crew members are well-trained in reefer shipment monitoring and management."

reefer_l

I want that life preserver.

midwest - transplant

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Michigan

Monday, May 30, 2005

Saturday, May 28, 2005

This one's for sweet p

Thursday, May 26, 2005

This one's for Bob,

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Happy (belated) birthday, Ben!

Sunday, May 22, 2005

You know you're an adult when...

Ben's best scrabble play ever: 'stymie.'

Saturday, May 21, 2005

East & West, North & South

Friday, May 20, 2005

New Music, er, Saturday.

I'm stuck in traffic

Finally spring !

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Counta culcha

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

The best meal in recent memory

Speedwell

Sorry...

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Did I mention I spend a lot of time on the road?

Weekend update

Monday, May 16, 2005

New features.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Another crush.

Crossover.

No boys allowed.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

An old flame.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Somethings for sweet p

Old (geeky) news.

Sunday, May 08, 2005

For Mother's Day,

Saturday, May 07, 2005

If I had money...

Big props.

Something for Saturday afternoon.

Friday, May 06, 2005

Spreading more love.

I heart industry.

I'm a girl.

Another confession: I'm still a girl.

Spring Snow

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

I spend too much time in the car.

About Me

Tried & True

Flavors of the Week

Friends

On Air

Archives